Battle In The Sunflower 14U Second Team All-Tournament

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Joyce Johnson-5'4 G (Lincoln North Star) VRLY Storm 2027[2027] Nebraska</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Johnson provided a nice 1-2 punch with her teammate Kaytee Irons-Buettner to help lead her team to a perfect 4-0 during the event. I can't overemphasize how I love seeing smaller guards outrebound taller players and watching her not only handle the ball down the court afterward but see the floor in transition and make good decisions was very nice, let me add while she was going full speed. She also showed good court vision in the set but her creating her shot under pressure and knocking it down was solid, yet when you add the fact that she could "catch and shoot" with a hand in her face and drop it, that was special. To make me even more excited was seeing her play the passing lane</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='883983' first='Whitlee' last='Keith']-5'6 G (Webb City Junior) [program_tooltip program_id='713014' first='MO' last='Legacy'] 2027 [2027] Missouri</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Keith immediately grabbed my attention while going full speed in transition and showed the crossover that left the defender standing still. I rewound the video a couple of times just to make sure but that wasn't necessary as she continued that show that, and much more. Her slight HEZ, some call it the HEZZIE, it's the hesitation, and trust me, that will be a go-to move. Her court vision was also nice and watching her thread the needle in traffic with "on the money" passes gave her teammates good looks but she also did a good job of creating her shot under pressure and by her creating spacing, it enabled her to get her shot off while being tightly guarded. Just to show me more, her "catch and shoot" was also nice</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='779206' first='Aliviah' last='Ball']-5'10 F (Wheatland Grinnell) [program_tooltip program_id='715500' first='Magic' last='Basketball'] 2027 [2027] Kansas</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ball had a, well BALL as she played on both teams which confused me on Sunday because her name wasn't on the second roster yet it clicked because I had tweeted about her "not realizing how good she was" the previous day. Look, she's long and athletic which will always be the base and one of my favorite profiles to evaluate, more importantly, many college love that profile too and they give next-level opportunities. On opening day, she grabbed my attention going after everything off the rim, in the air, and on the floor yet her scoring off the dribble, and nice ballhandling to get by the defender were nice as she attacked from, well everywhere. Her timing to block, alter, and (or) deflect shots was very good, but she also saw the floor. On day 2, she played on the second team as well and completely changed how they looked on opening day watching her rebound and go coast to coast for baskets was one yet she made those around her better when she was on the court</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Katana Bigham-5'6 G (Benton) [program_tooltip program_id='715853' first='Southside' last='Elite'] 2027 [2027] Missouri</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bigham has a perfect name because she played BIG every chance I caught her. remember "it's not what you do, it's who you do it against" but just as important "and who you do it in front of" which ties into this. Trying to front her wasn't easy, her deceptive first step got the defender to lean and that was that as she blew by them off the dribble to score after contact. Let me also add her body control was nice, and so was her dishing off the dribble to set her teammates up for "gimmes" but how about her ballhandling and court-vision in the set as well as in transition which got her teammates good looks as well. Her pull-up jumper looked good, so did her "catch and shoot" from mid to long-range</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='836275' first='Maya' last='Harris']-5'4 G (Heritage) B2B Elite [program_tooltip program_id='712424' first='Kansas' last='Bluejays'] 2027 Miller [Kansas]</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Harris has me looking at my notes and one thing is for certain, she was consistent in doing what she does in each of the 3 games I watched yet she added something differently to go with her "go-to". So what is her go-to? Well taking the defender off the dribble by attacking with either hand and understanding how to use her body to finish off-balance, aka body control, yet her pull-up jumper was equally effective as she not only created her shot under pressure but dropped it while the defender was all over her. She showed the "stop and pop" in transition, she also showed she could "catch and shoot" and her being able to hit shots from mid to long-range was more than solid </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->